Like summer camp, only in the winter
So I’m hanging in there and doing a lot of hanging out. The parts of my days that aren’t eaten by classes and basic life management tend to be spent in the company of other trainees. This Sunday was all about volleyball, and catch, and knocking around a soccer ball at D’s house, followed by more of the same on Monday. Tuesday, we took a day of rest for our poor aching forearms.
When I’m not with the other RED aspirantes, you can find me on the patio at Doña T and Don M’s place, drinking pomelo juice fresh-squeezed from homegrown fruit and trying desperately to absorb fifteen different ways to say “good morning” in Guaraní. Yes, as of this Tuesday we’ve started formal lessons in
It’s frustrating to go back to the two-concepts-an-hour pace you have to take with a new language after we’d been racing through the process of remembering our Spanish. Thankfully, we still get some lessons en el español – I need as much verb conjugation practice as I can get, and it’s nice to feel good at speaking, at least for a little while.
The Guaraní word of the day is chuchi, which means elegant or swanky. It can be applied to men, women, children, animals, or objects.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Glad to hear things are working out so well with the host family, the classes, and the crew! Katie’s graduation was good, though I don’t feel like we did her justice with our cameo. We’ve been kayaking and playing paddleball this week. Only a couple more days until its back to reality! Going to Nick’s tomorrow night, so I’ll shovel a few dozen blue crabs down for ya. Best wishes!
June 25th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Been too busy to keep up like I should have lately. Sorry. Sure enjoyed sitting down ‘with you’ this morning and digesting your very interesting tales. What a wonderful, life-enriching thing you are doing - for them and yourself! Keep it coming. It’s so good to feel connected! Gearing up for our BIG 4th celebration starting on Sunday, the 30th when the kids come in. Big neighborhood bash on Wed. night. I’m in charge, of course. Aren’t I lucky to have fans??? Have three huge boxes of decor and LOTS of banana pudding to make. Will miss you and your fam this year. Later…